Common Sense America urges Florida to address Chinese influence, warns of infiltration in state Senate

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Steve Crim, founder of Common Sense America, spoke with Florida’s Voice about his urgent call for Florida to address Chinese Communist influences in the state.

He mentioned the concern of Bowen Kou, a state Senate candidate, potentially having connections and being funded by the foreign power.

He explained that they came across the issue when the director of national intelligence determined China was working to infiltrate and influence state and local governments since it was an easier avenue compared to infiltrating the U.S. Congress.

Crim said Common Sense America originally sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis requesting a meeting to look into some of the “empire building” China is doing in the state of Florida, specifically highlighting how the Communist state has the ability to buy up U.S. farmland near military bases.

“We also have seen some suspicious activities going on in a state Senate race down there,” he added, referring to Kou’s race as he runs for the Republican nomination in district 13.

DeSantis signed legislation following the 2023 legislative session prohibiting Chinese government agencies, businesses and citizens from owning land in Florida. The new law would effectively ban the purchase or acquisition of real estate by the People’s Republic of China.

Crim argued that China is currently in a more “defensive posture,” but will soon move into a more “offensive posture.”

Common Sense America sent a second letter more recently, following up with the governor in their efforts to with him. It was here where they emphasized Kou’s potential connections.

“Currently, a Chinese national running for a Florida State Senate seat has raised many questions about whether he has ongoing ties with the communist nation,” the letter read.

“It is deeply troubling and raises the alarm when a candidate’s timeline of when and how he came to the U.S.; when and how he obtained U.S. citizenship; and most peculiar, why someone who has only been in the US for a short period time has donated $1 million, and raised thousands nationally from other Chinese donors,” said Crim in his letter to Gov. DeSantis.

“At the surface, none of these facts make sense, especially in deep red Lake County, Florida. However, given the pattern of CCP activity all over the country and their overt statements about how they are seeking to infiltrate our elections, manipulate local government, and exploit the courts, one is compelled to be suspicious. A candidacy as peculiar as this warrants a more thorough investigation,” it added.

According to state records, more than half of Kou’s donors are from out-of-state. Since his candidacy began last year, he’s raised over $1.4 million and spent over $600,000.

“Most of them are first-time donors,” Kou said when being interviewed on Florida’s Voice with Brendon Leslie. “They’ve never donated to a political campaign before. [People] are saying, ‘Oh, Bowen [is] backed by [the] CCP.’ That’s totally false.”

Florida’s Voice asked Kou about his financial disclosures, which listed around $1.2 million of his own money going toward his campaign. His most recent reported net worth was $16.1 million, and his salary is $160,000.

“There weren’t very many assets that were listed,” said Brendon Leslie, Florida’s Voice founder. “And you said that you take a salary of about $160,000 a year? Can you explain how you get there with your net worth?”

“Most of my net worth [comes] from my business assets,” Kou replied. “The majority of $16 million is from my grocery stores […] Our last grocery store [was] opened in North Carolina. It costed $6 million to build.”

Despite his responses, Kou’s form 6 does not list assets that total anywhere near $16 million, and there is no further explanation of where the $1.2 million from himself to his campaign came from.

In their second letter, Common Sense America also pointed to various non-profit organizations that are working to stop certain policies that would lead Florida and the U.S. towards becoming less dependent on China.

“One of the things we focused in on last year and even this year are our critical minerals,” Crim said. “There’s a lot of critical minerals that the U.S. depends upon, not only for our food supply, but also to develop renewable energy.”

“What we’re seeing now is environmental groups who have talked about climate change opposing efforts to extract the critical minerals we need in order to be able to able to develop the renewable energy that they want,” he said.